I have a good friend recently moved from here in Canada to Munich, Germany for a job he was offered in his field of education. Since he is permanently living there, he sold his 2010 Ford F-150 XLT and 2012 Focus Titanium (black, loaded w/sport pack, beautiful car) that he loved and just bought a new black Focus Titanium in Germany. He got it spec'd with the 182HP 1.6L Ecoboost and 6spd manual (A setup I'd kill to have on my car, ditch the dual clutch in a heartbeat). He got his car loaded with everything including the same wheels available on the sport package. He told me about all the features that came on his car that were unavailable on his american spec car, like HID projector headlights, BLIS and adaptive cruise control. His car also has a sony stereo, but no MyFordTouch. Just a slew of buttons with a small screen up top like the base cars here. His American spec car had the DCT and he claims that his euro car drives so much nicer than his american one. The Ecoboost is a perfect fit for the car apparently.

I was recently overseas in Europe in April, I saw a few top-end Foci running around. Those black/black Titanium cars with the non-amber accented dark finish HID headlights with LED running lights are downright crisp, clean and sexy.

Not that I really care about any of those features other than the HID headlights and powertrain choices, but why does Ford de-content the Focus for the American market? I know in Europe small cars are the best selling type of car so it makes sense to have features like those available, but if manufacturers and politicians want Americans to downsize their vehicles, doesn't it make sense to at least offer those features? Especially the powertrain choices..We should have 1.6L Ecoboost engines available with 6 speed manuals if we want. Maybe it would lift some of the flack regarding the PowerShit 6 speed auto. I always thought the Focus was going to be available with an Ecoboost at some point in time, but it doesn't appear to be in the plans just yet.

What do you guys think? Should we be seeing some more Euro-spec features and engines here in America?

I just ran the vehicle build on www.ford.de and came up with what sounds like your friend build. I don't know if he got the sedan or the hatch, I did the sedan since it's cheaper. Here's what I came up with:

Even with all the junk I threw in, we're still under $27,000, so we come up with a premium of $6287 (or so) for that engine, that sixth gear and those other options.

Is that a lot? I don't know. Personally, even $27,000 for a Focus is a bit too much for me, which is why I don't own a Titanium. I would think that in the econobox market segment any sticker pushing $30,000 or beyond would be pretty off-putting. The US manufacturers have traditionally been leery of offering premium-priced products in this segment since they tend not to sell, even when bestowed with premium nameplates (remember the Cimmaron?). To present it as a mini-SHO? That would be a niche product, just like the maxi-SHO and, besides, they already have a niche Focus in the ST.

Generally-speaking, in Europe an econobox-sized car is not necessarily viewed as an econobox. It can be a premium product in a compact package. I don't think we're quite there yet in this country.

Seems to me that Hyundai/ Kia North America is offering pretty much the same high spec features as they do in Europe. I think that takes away the excuse of "The average Euro car cost about $10,000. to $15,000 MORE than the same car in the USA"

Example using my country as a comparo to USA Hyundai pricing . I will use USD dollars not including taxes

Very complicated issue. One factor is that options add complexity to the manufacturing process, which increases the cost of every vehicle that comes off the line. Market research has to figure out if enough customers will select an option to offset the increased overhead cost for all vehicles (since the market will not tolerate increasing the cost of the base model to offer options that people choosing the base model are purposely not selecting in order to save money).

The compact market has changed significantly in the past 15 years (leather, auto climate control, and auto headlights were unheard of on the Escort and its competitors), but the US market is apparently still lagging slightly behind Europe in its willingness to select and pay for luxury options in a compact in significant numbers.

Or its good marketing. Sell some of those features on the ST first (HID
projectors, 6 speed manual, etc) Then when they do a refresh
On the body mid life of the car they offer those or some of the features.
It would help to get people who bought or lease early in the MK3 life to come back.
And if they dont maybe all the the euro and North America ST
opinions will be offered in a Lincoln version. So if
you want all that luxury you have to buy Lincolns small car.

With the commuting I do, I would love to see the 2.0L Duratorq Diesel Focus here. With the cost of fuel in Europe, people want the most options with the best fuel economy. Here in North America, we have less expensive fuel and larger distances to travel between points.

The 2.0L used now is a great engine (hooked up to an unfortunate transmission) but nothing revolutionary.

I don't feel that the MTX75 is "unfortunate". Yes, it could use another cog for economy, but it is a durable, proven transmission that has improved greatly in refinement since the MK1. It's not "revolutionary" either, but it works very well.

I just ran the vehicle build on www.ford.de and came up with what sounds like your friend build. I don't know if he got the sedan or the hatch, I did the sedan since it's cheaper. Here's what I came up with:

So, the price would be 26,565 Euro + 19% VAT= 31,612 Euro = $41,096. If we take the VAT out of the equation for US purposes, that's still $33,287.

Focus Titanium in Denmark spec'd as your German spec is just under $47,000.00 plus VAT = $58,400.00

You say we are not talking about Estonia or Hyundai, but you compare USA Focus with Germany Focus price differences. I use Denmark as another comparison which is way higher then Germany, which makes market to market price comparison irrelevant.
It is not because Europeans want to pay higher prices then Americans for a Focus, it is because that is what it costs for any cars in the same segment in that market.

I used Hyundai as an example because it is company that is offering options in the Focus segment in North America that the competition is not, such as heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, LED running lights. Which is similar to Hyundai Europe options. So why is Hyundai not way more expensive in North America?

I don't understand why the Focus would be so expensive in North America if Ford offered HID,s and some of the other items mentioned in the OP.

I'd be happy if ford would offer the 6 sp manual here instead of the old 5 sp. I am sure ford's rationale is that not too many guys want manuals but i bet if the 6sp were offered they'd sell many more manuals than they currently do now w/ the 5 sp. And since the 6 sp is offered in the ST (and the upcoming fiesta ST), it would be easy to make the switch for ford.

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